The Probate estate of Michael Jackson has been an interesting case with numerous instances of probate litigation, creditor claims some legitimate and some mere strange but with his longtime attorney and now a Personal Representative of his estate and Trustee of his trust setup a record $250 million dollar deal with Sony. Some of the highlights include
10 records over 7 years from songs that he had not released and some songs repackaged.
Rights extended for his songs. Sony was set to lose rights to some songs in 2015 but will now have the rights until at least 2017.
The $250 million that they are expecting to receive is especially impressive given that US album sales have falen 52% in the past decade as the Wall Street Journal reports.
Even during the prime CD sale years deals in the tens of millions and higher were rare.
The estate is making a fortune now though with 31 million albums sold since his death.
This agreement and the money the estate is generating will allow the estate to pay off $125 million in debt by the end of the year including $35 million to AEG concert promoter who was going to handle the This is it concert and finance another $325 million in debt. As the article points out as tragic as his death was from an emotional standpoint and on a personal level it was a helpful thing for his family on a financial level. He had been spending more than he was making and headed towards problems but now the estate has a surge of income without his absurdly expensive lifestyle.
As this $250 Million dollar deal shows he will likely be similar to the Elvis Presley estate in generating tens of millions or more for a very long time.